The present invention relates to a spout assembly for a liquid container, and more particularly to a plastic spout assembly designed to be applied to a variety of containers, such as flexible pouches and non-flexible containers, while being capable of not only achieving an easy filling of a liquid beverage in a container, to which the spout assembly is applied, but also allowing the user to easily and conveniently drink the filled liquid beverage.
As is well known, there is a sealed flexible liquid, pouch. In order to form an opening, such a pouch is cut at a desired portion thereof by scissors. A liquid container is also known which is sealed at its opening by a thin film. In use of such a liquid container, a straw is pierced through the thin film. However, such actions required to open those liquid containers are troublesome.
In order to solve such a problem, a liquid container has been proposed in which a spout is provided at a portion of the liquid container where a seal is formed. The spout comprises an elongated tube extending to the interior of the liquid container. For this reason, this liquid container has a problem in that when a liquid is filled in the container, the elongated tube prevents air remaining in the interior of the container from being smoothly vented from the container, so that an air expansion occurs in the interior of the container, thereby considerably reducing the filling rate of the liquid. Furthermore, when the liquid contained in the container is dispensed into a cup in order for someone to drink the liquid, it is incompletely discharged from the container because the spout has an elongated tube structure extending to the interior of the container by a considerable length.
In order to eliminate the above drawback, another spout has been proposed which is disclosed in Korean Utility Model Publication No. 91-5740. However, this spout also has a drawback.
In this spout, a through hole is formed at a desired portion of the spout in order to allow the liquid contained in a container, to which the spout is applied, to be completely discharged therethrough. In this case, however, there is a problem after the user drinks the liquid contained in the container over a certain amount. In a state in which the liquid contained in the container is outwardly discharged over a certain amount, the user can drink the liquid sucked into the spout through the lower end of the spout after air filled in the interior of the container is outwardly discharged through the through hole. That is, the liquid from the container is outwardly discharged as the container shrinks. For this reason, a very high suction force is needed to drink the liquid contained in the container. As a result, this spout is problematic in that it is difficult for the old and the weak or children to drink the liquid contained in the container using the spout.
For instance, if the user drinks 50 ml of liquid from the container having a capacity of 500 ml, about 350 ml of air is then sucked into the container. When the user drinks again the liquid left in the container by a suction force, 350 ml of air existing in the container is first outwardly discharged from the container via the through hole. After the air existing in the container is completely vented, a further suction force generated by the user causes the through hole to be closed by a film wall of the container. As a result, a vacuum is generated in the interior of the container. For this reason, there is a problem in that the user drinks the liquid left in the container against the vacuum.
Furthermore, the spout disclosed in Korean Utility Model Publication No. 91-5740 cannot be applied to non-flexible containers, made of a material exhibiting a relatively high hardness, such as PET containers or containers made of glass or metal.
A technique for adapting a spout to a bottle cap has been proposed which is mainly used in association with drinking of beverages. However, such a technique is a simple technique for simply sucking a beverage contained in a container in order to allow the user to drink the beverage. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 5,803,310 diploses a bottle cap adaptable spout. Although this bottle cap adaptable spout has a certain industrial utility, it is extremely unsuitable for the drinking of beverages. Such a drawback becomes apparent by referring to FIG. 5 of U.S. Pat. No. 5,803,310.
The present invention has been made to provide a spout assembly having an improved configuration in view of the above mentioned problems involved in the conventional spouts.
Therefore, a first object of the invention is to provide a spout assembly having a configuration capable of being applied to any containers irrespective of the structural features of those containers, for example, the materials of those containers.
A second object of the invention is to provide a spout assembly having a configuration capable of allowing the user to not only easily drink a liquid contained in a container, to which the spout assembly is applied, but also to dispense the liquid into another container.
A third object of the invention is to provide a spout assembly having a configuration capable of preventing pneumatic pressure from being generated in a container, to which the spout assembly is applied, when a liquid is filled in the container.
A fourth object of the invention is to provide a spout assembly having a configuration capable of exhibiting a superior sealability for preventing gas saturated in a liquid contained in a container, to which the spout assembly is applied, from leaking.
A fifth object of the invention is to provide a spout assembly including a cap capable of, when the cap is separated from the spout assembly, moving a spout included in the spout assembly to a position where the spout allows the user to drink a liquid contained a container, to which the spout assembly is applied, thereby providing superior sanitation.
A sixth object of the invention is to provide a spout assembly including a cap having a screw type structure capable of allowing a spout included in the spout assembly to be raised and lowered using minimal force, thereby allowing even children to easily use the spout assembly, namely, to easily open and close the spout.
In accordance with the present invention, these objects are accomplished by providing 1. A spout assembly for a liquid container comprising: a body centrally provided with a vertical passage extending vertically throughout the body, the body including an annular groove formed at a lower end of the vertical passage, a primary container bonding portion provided at a lower portion of the body, the primary container bonding portion extending around the vertical passage while extending laterally in a reduced thickness at opposite sides of the vertical passage, a secondary container bonding portion formed at the lower portion of the body over the primary container bonding portion, the secondary container bonding portion extending laterally beyond the primary container bonding portion, a cap coupling portion provided at an upper portion of the body, a thread formed around the cap coupling portion, a skirt engagement member formed at a lower end of the cap coupling portion, and a pair of opposite alignment grooves provided at an intermediate portion of the body; a spout inserted into the vertical passage of the body in such a fashion that it is slidable along the vertical passage, the spout including an elongated tube member slidably inserted into the vertical passage of the body, a lower annular protrusion protruded from an outer surface of the elongated tube member at a desired position and adapted to be selectively fitted in the annular groove of the body, at least one through hole radially perforated through the tube member above the lower annular protrusion, the through hole being closed by an inner surface of the body defining the vertical passage when the lower annular protrusion is fitted in the annular groove of the body, an annular cap engagement protrusion formed at an upper end of the tube member, an upper annular protrusion formed at the tube member while being vertically spaced from the annular cap engagement protrusion to define an annular groove, and a liquid passage defined in the tube member, the liquid passage extending vertically throughout the tube member while communicating with the through hole; and a cap threadedly coupled to the thread of the cap coupling portion in the body, the cap including a cap body, an opening identification skirt provided at a lower end of the cap body and engaged with the skirt engagement member of the body, an annular groove formed at an inner surface of a top wall of the cap body, the annular groove being engagable with the annular cap engagement protrusion of the tube member in a snapped fashion, an annular protrusion formed at an inner surface of a side wall of the cap body, the annular protrusion being engagable with the annular groove of the tube member in a snapped fashion, an annular contact surface provided at the inner surface of the side wall of the cap body beneath the annular protrusion, the annular contact surface being in tight contact with the upper annular protrusion of the tube member in a state in which the cap engages with the tube member, and a thread formed on the inner surface of the cap body beneath the annular contact surface and adapted to be engagable with the thread of the body.